Celestial hemisphere:  Southern  ·  Constellation: Orion (Ori)  ·  Contains:  41 Ori A)  ·  41 Ori C  ·  41 Ori D  ·  42 Ori)  ·  43 Ori)  ·  44 Ori)  ·  49 Ori)  ·  Great Orion Nebula  ·  IC 420  ·  IC 430  ·  Lower Sword  ·  M 42  ·  M 43  ·  Mairan's Nebula  ·  NGC 1973  ·  NGC 1975  ·  NGC 1976  ·  NGC 1977  ·  NGC 1980  ·  NGC 1981  ·  NGC 1982  ·  Orion Nebula  ·  The star 45 Ori  ·  The star Hatysa (ι Ori  ·  The star Mizan Batil I (c Ori  ·  The star Mizan Batil II (θ2 Ori  ·  The star Mizan Batil III (d Ori  ·  The star Trapezium (θ1 Ori A  ·  The star θ1 Ori C  ·  The star θ1 Ori D  ·  And 2 more.
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Messier 42 (Orion Nebula), Holger Ruf
Messier 42 (Orion Nebula)
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Messier 42 (Orion Nebula)

Getting plate-solving status, please wait...
Messier 42 (Orion Nebula), Holger Ruf
Messier 42 (Orion Nebula)
Powered byPixInsight

Messier 42 (Orion Nebula)

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Description

This is my current image of the Orion Nebula. When I remember the images from my early days of astrophotography, I see clear progress and a steep learning curve. The Orion Nebula is difficult to image because of its bright core. This is the first image I made using the HDR technique, choosing different exposure times. The subframes with 10 and 30 seconds exposure time are necessary for the bright core. The subframes with 180 seconds exposure time captured the nebula and the dark clouds.

In PixInsight the three master images were then merged into one HDR image. In GraXpert I removed the gradients of the light pollution and then continued working in PixInsight: SPCC, BXT,NXT,SXT. Then I stretched and processed the two images (star and starless) separately.

I started stretching the starless image several times, because I had to protect the core with a mask to prevent it from becoming too bright again. In the third attempt I was satisfied.

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Messier 42 (Orion Nebula), Holger Ruf